Newsletters
Turkish comedian Deniz Goktas was arrested on Friday after a peace criminal court ordered his detention following charges of insulting the president and publicly denigrating religious values, days after his stand-up performance at Istanbul's Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre went viral.
He has been arrested on charges of "insulting the president" and "degrading religious values."
Goktas was detained at Istanbul Airport upon returning from a trip abroad and transferred to Istanbul's Caglayan Courthouse after completing police processing.
Following a three-hour prosecutor interview, he was referred to a peace criminal court with an arrest request.
The court ordered his imprisonment.
The June 1 show, part of Goktas' "Olu Deniz" ("Dead Sea") program, was uploaded to his YouTube channel and viewed more than 8 million times within a week.
Istanbul's Chief Prosecutor's Office said 185 separate complaints had been filed via the CIMER public feedback system. Following a review, prosecutors opened an investigation for publicly insulting religious values embraced by a segment of the public.
A charge of insulting the president was subsequently added to the file.
Goktas' statement to the police was revealed by Turkish media outlet Haberturk's reporter Ceylan Sever.
Identifying himself as a comedian and describing his income as "high" when asked, Goktas confirmed the YouTube channel and the video were his.
"This stand-up show is one I have performed in various cities across Türkiye for approximately three years," he said, adding, "More than 100,000 audience members have watched this show and not a single complaint from any of them has reached me regarding this section."
Goktas said there was no intent to denigrate religious belief, saying, "I definitely have no intention of hurting a believer. If I heard such an interpretation from an audience member in daily life, it would sadden me."
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
